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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · last · bark · rush · lash · bass · rest · plane

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rest — a break
  3. last — final
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. game — a match
  6. bark — to shout
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bass — low music
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. last — finally
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bass — the fish
  17. game — wild animals
  18. last — to go on
  19. rush — hurry
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — what's left
  23. plane — a tool
  24. lash — a whip stroke

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com